Gustaf Gründgens (22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg. His career continued unimpeded through the years of the Nazi regime; the extent to which this can be considered as deliberate collaboration with the Nazis is hotly disputed. His best known roles were that of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust in 1956/57, and as "Der Schränker" (The Safecracker) who is the chief judge of the kangaroo court presiding over Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang's M.

Gustaf Gründgens

Acting Born December 22, 1899 – Died October 7, 1963 Düsseldorf, Germany

Gustaf Gründgens (22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg. His career continued unimpeded through the years of the Nazi regime; the extent to which this can be considered as deliberate collaboration with the Nazis is hotly disputed.

His best known roles were that of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust in 1956/57, and as "Der Schränker" (The Safecracker) who is the chief judge of the kangaroo court presiding over Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang's M.

Known For

M

Schränker

Zur Person

Self

Das Jahrhundert des Theaters

Self (archive footage)

The Theft of the Mona Lisa

Unbekannter

Faust

Mephisto

Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez

Alexander

The Countess of Monte Cristo

Der 'Baron' Hochstapler

Fire in the Opera House

Otto van Lingen

Joan of Arc

König Karl VII. von Frankreich

Pygmalion

Professor Higgins

Hitler's Hollywood

Various Roles (archive footage)

So Ended a Great Love

Count Metternich